My Book Essential 3 TB

Intro

External hard drives are a nice storage- and back up media, but when getting one you must first choose the connection
you want. Network drives are handy if there are many users of PCs sharing the same data, e-SATA has been a fast, dedicated
connection for external drives, and then there's USB. USB 2.0 has never been the connection for people in a hurry, as it's
only been capable of transfer speeds up to about 30 MB/s. Now, however, with the introduction of USB 3.0, the USB is also
a choice for the people looking for performance. Western Digital was kind enough to send us their new My Book Essential 3
TB USB3.0 drive, so let's see just how fast these thing can be!

Package & Specs

WDBACW0030HBK

Capacity: 3 TB

Interface: USB 3.0 (max. 5 Gb/s) and USB 2.0 (max. 480 Mb/s)

Dimensions: 165x135x48 mm (HxDxW)

Weight: 1,18 kg

Operating temperature: 5-35°C

The My Book comes packed in a mainly green cardboard box with photos of the product printed on it. The specifications
are also clearly visible, and at the rear side there are also graphs for a couple of transfer scenarios showing how much
time the USB 3.0 interface saves compared to the old USB 2.0. Unlike the WD My Book World we reviewed earlier, the
Essential only has one hard drive inside, so it's much smaller than the World, but shares the same book-like design.

Bundle

Inside the box there's the black drive itself, a power supply with two different heads, USB A to micro-B cable, a short
guide on how to connect the drive and warranty information.